Vitamin C Count in Specific Citrus Fruits

Problem Scenario

Somebody might want to know the vitamin c count in these citrus fruits because then they know which has the most, so they can put it into their diet more.

Broad Question

If I took 3 different citrus fruits would the vitamin c count change?

Specific Question

Does fruit type affect vitamin c count?

Hypothesis

What looks the most practical in the situation would be for the bigger the fruit the more the vitamin c.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Dependent Variable:

vitamin c count

Independent Variable:

type of fruit

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

amount of water within testing

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

iodine
[ahy-uh-dahyn, -din; in Chemistry also ahy-uh-deen]
noun Chemistry .a nonmetallic halogen element occurring at ordinary temperatures asa grayish-black crystalline solid that sublimes to a dense violet vaporwhen heated: used in medicine as an antiseptic.

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General Plan

The general plan for my experiment is very technical. What I first had to do was make a starch solution so I could test how much iodine it would take to react to the vitamin c tablets. Then you juice the citrus fruit of you choice to get about 20 milliliters. Then you take your iodine solution and put it in the citrus juice until the chemical reaction occurs which turns the liquid blue or green.

Potential Problems And Solutions

A potential problem is that the age of the fruit might affect the vitamin c count, but to solve this is easy. The fruit to use will all be not ripe.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Peopl could get a hold of the iodine, but I locked it in a cabinet in the science room.

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

What is your experimental unit?

grapefruit, lemon, and lime

Number Of Trials:

3

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

2

Number of Observations

2

When data will be collected

Looking for an actual date or dates here. This is requiring you to commit to your project.

Where will data be collected?:

home

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Lime	2	Hannaford
Lemon	2	Hannaford
Grapefruit	2	Hannaford
Iodine	30 mL	Hannaford
Vitamin C tablets		Hannaford

Detailed Procedure

1. Get materials from the science room and Hannaford.
2. Make an iodine solution and a starch solution, to test how much iodine is needed for the reaction.
3. Then juice the citrus fruit and add ten drops of the starch solution.
4. Then add the iodine soultion to the citrus until reaction occurs.

Diagram

Photo List

I took pictures with my iPod in class while doing the experiment.

Time Line

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Grapefruit: 200 mg
Lime: 266.66 mg
Lemon: 366.66 mg

Graphs

Photos

Results

Baically what occuerd in the experiment was that three fruits were tested for vitamin c count and the conclusion was that the smaller the fruit the more the vitamin c count, even though this was the opposite of the hypothesis.

Conclusion

In the experiment that was performed the hypothesis was that the bigger the fruit, the more vitamin c count. The hypothesis was wrong because it was the other way around. It showed in the experiment that actually the smaller the fruit the more vitamin c count.

Discussion

For the experiment the trends were that the smaller the fruit the more the vitamin c count, which was opposite of the hypothesis. The relationship between the type of fruit and the vitamin c was very strong for the fruit had a vitamin c in it and I was testing how much vitamin c was in the fruit. The question was very easily determined saying that the smaller the fruit the more the vitamin c count. Thankfully only one problem occured in the experiment which was when the iodine solution was disapating, which did not help the reaction. This experiment could be advanced by using better ways to find the vitamin c count with better tools.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

The benefit goes to community for showing them if they need vitamin c, the lime would be a good source of it.

Background Research

All citrus fruits contain ascorbic acid, also called vitamin c, and are considered acidic fruit. The higher the ascorbic acid content, the better the taste and quality of the fruit.Citrus fruits contain the most vitamin c among all fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C's functions are indispensable to health and survival. It repairs cells, tissues, bones, skin and cartilage; stimulates growth and regeneration; helps create antibodies which shield the immune system and fight disease; and detoxifies the body from free radicals which are chemicals released as a by-product in metabolism. Bleeding gums, weakened tooth enamel, slow body repair, easy bruising, dehydrated and discolored skin, nosebleeds, anemia, brittle hair, and swollen joints are tell-tale signs of Vitamin C deficiency. The FDA advises a daily Vitamin C intake of 2,000 mg. Vitamin C content depends on the species of a fruit, climate, and maturity. Excessive heat or cold exposure impairs Vitamin C. A young fruit or vegetable carries less Vitamin C than a riper one. In food preparation, one has to be mindful when heating and boiling vegetables since most Vitamin C compounds (ascorbic acid) get lost that way. Also, the freezing and thawing processes lower amounts of Vitamin C by 25-50%. It is best to consume fruit in its natural state with skin intact, since cutting skin removes essential vitamin content.

Read more: What Non-Citrus Fruits & Vegetables Contain Vitamin C? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6323399_non_citrus-vegetables-contain-vitamin-c_.html#ixzz2NtcCyWP7



Read more: What Non-Citrus Fruits & Vegetables Contain Vitamin C? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6323399_non_citrus-vegetables-contain-vitamin-c_.html#ixzz2Ntb58Fcp

References

Abstract

For the experiment that was performed, a lot of different scientific events occurred. When you take an iodine solution (iodine that's watered down) and a vitamin c solution (crushed vitamin c tablets and distilled water) you test the two together until the vitamin c solution turns blue. Then you take your chosen citrus fruit and juice 20 milliliters out of it. Then to get that to be a solution you add 10 drops of a starch solution (corn starch with distilled water) to the juice. After this process add as much of the iodine solution needed to make the citrus solution turn blue. To get the amount of vitamin c in the citrus here is an example. Let's say that it took an average of 8.5 mL of iodine solution to titrate 20 mL of 1 mg/mL vitamin C standard solution, which means 20 mg vitamin C total. Let's also say it takes an average of 6.8 mL of iodine solution to titrate a 20 mL test sample of orange juice. We'll call the amount of vitamin C in the orange juice sample x. You can find what x is with the following equation:
X=

(6.8 mg/ml)*(20 mg)/(8.5ml)

16.0 mg
I think that this would be usual for people who needed a lot of vitamin c in their diets because then they could figure out which citrus fruit had the most vitamin c and incorporate it in their lifestyle.